{"id":492534,"date":"2026-05-19T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/492534\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T15:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:00:15","slug":"gerry-hutch-i-have-experienced-things-ive-been-around-a-block-ive-been-in-jail-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/492534\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerry Hutch: \u2018I have experienced things, I\u2019ve been around a block, I\u2019ve been in jail\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gerry Hutch<\/a> talks into a mobile phone that a woman on a flats complex balcony has handed him. It\u2019s her husband who wants to say hello to the gangland figure and, now, candidate in the Dublin<\/a> Central byelection. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going great,\u201d Hutch says. \u201cI\u2019m flying.\u201d <\/p>\n

He pauses. \u201cI\u2019m flying without wings,\u201d he adds with a smirk. <\/p>\n

Down below him in the courtyard, a speaker on the roof of a flatbed van is pounding out those very lyrics from the chorus of the 1999 Westlife<\/a> hit. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Monday evening and the skies over Dublin\u2019s north inner city have opened as Hutch and a large group including his brother Patsy spread out to canvass around the Belvedere Court and Hardwicke Street flat blocks off Gardiner Street. <\/p>\n

The flatbed van is an integral part of the operation. It features a large billboard with a portrait of Hutch and drives slowly into every area being canvassed. Pop songs play and it\u2019s like a political version of a Mr Softee ice-cream van, alerting people that \u201cThe Monk\u201d is coming. <\/p>\n

Hutch\u2019s speaking voice is loud and rasps like a saw as he orders his supporters in different directions. One balcony is avoided because it is home to unnamed rivals. It is the only time the murderous Kinahan-Hutch feud is referenced. <\/p>\n

Hutch looks like a hiker this evening \u2013 black raincoat, small rucksack and walking boots. He remains unhooded despite the teeming rain and jogs up stairs and across courtyards in that hurried way candidates who are running out of time do. <\/p>\n

In Belvedere Court, word spreads that Hutch is there and at every doorway along each balcony the routine is the same. The person comes to the door, a smartphone appears and a selfie is taken. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I got a vote for every selfie, I\u2019d win on the first count,\u201d Hutch says as he walks along. <\/p>\n

At the top of the stairwell, he meets Lisa Doyle, a young woman who tells him all her family are voting Hutch. <\/p>\n

As a selfie is taken, she says: \u201cI\u2019m voting for him because we know him and he will look after us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GerryGerry Hutch with Lisa Doyle at Belvedere Court while on a canvass in advance of the Dublin Central byelection. Photograph: Harry McGee <\/p>\n

Politics hardly features in the engagements. It\u2019s all about connections and familiarity. One woman complains about rent increases, and Hutch is well informed. <\/p>\n

\u201cYe both got a tenner [discount] each,\u201d he says to her. \u201cBut then rent went up \u20ac60. That\u2019s \u20ac40 more for yous.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another flat, a woman says the playground in the courtyard needs updating. Hutch reminisces about coming up to Belvedere Court when he was a child as it had \u201cthe best playground around\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to come up through all the lanes, across Grenville Street, Temple Street and up to George\u2019s Pocket,\u201d he says. \u201cWe used to get run out of here. \u2018Get out of here,\u2019 they\u2019d roar at us. \u2018This is posh\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

He pauses. \u201cThis was a posh block.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the group moves on into the houses and flats around Mountjoy Street, the reception is the same \u2013 people approach Hutch to shake his hand and get selfies. The engagement is seldom political. <\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to Somalia,\u201d says one local, critical of the ethnic mix in the neighbourhood. <\/p>\n

While a career politician might engage, there is no comeback from any of the canvassers. <\/p>\n

Members of a funeral party in a nearby pub, all dressed in black, come out into the rain to get their pictures taken with Hutch. They cluster around him. <\/p>\n

\u201cSend that picture on to my father,\u201d says one of the mourners to the person who has taken the picture. <\/p>\n

All of this area is Hutch\u2019s bailiwick, but he says he has canvassed extensively in Cabra and also in middle-class Drumcondra and Glasnevin. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a very warm welcome up there, we\u2019re very happy with it. We are getting number ones in the blocks of flats everywhere. It\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing in the rain, Hutch sets out what can only be described as his non-political political stall. <\/p>\n

He says the cost of living<\/a>, housing<\/a>, special needs education and the cost of childcare are the recurring themes. He is quick to point out he has made no promise whatsoever to any voter. <\/p>\n

And if there are no promises, what is his appeal to voters? Do they see him as a Robin Hood figure? <\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t go as far as saying Robin Hood. But I do have credibility going back to since I was about 10. I\u2019m 63 now, and anyone who knows me knows I\u2019m not a bullshitter. I\u2019m not false. I don\u2019t tell lies, and I certainly don\u2019t make f**king promises.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t made one promise in this election. I tell people, if I get elected, I\u2019ll come back and talk to them. I\u2019m not going to say I can build this many houses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I get elected, I have massive ideas that I hope the Government will listen to. We can talk together. I\u2019d have a way of dealing with things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have experienced things, I\u2019ve been around a block, I\u2019ve been in jail. I could go into jails and save the Government millions.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he acknowledges a byelection is a more difficult election to win, especially given his problem with transfers in the general election in 2024, he still thinks there is a chance. <\/p>\n

\"GerryGerry Hutch with Siptu-member carers on a picket line on Tuesday outside North Park, Finglas, Dublin. Photograph: Colin Keegan\/Collins Dublin. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are four candidates in it. There\u2019s Janice Boylan [Sinn F\u00e9in], Daniel Ennis [Social Democrats] and me. I\u2019ve been watching Ray McAdam [Fine Gael]. He\u2019s behind but he could be a dark horse. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think I can pick up transfers, especially if I stay in advance of Janice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about The Irish Times\u2019s disclosure<\/a> that \u20ac500,000 had been placed on the Polymarket prediction website for him to lose, he says he heard something about it but knows nothing about that website and is \u201cnot a gambling person\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had a few bob to put on a horse, I\u2019d ask someone to put it on. For the Grand National, I\u2019d put a tenner in the pot.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cI think on Saturday night there will be three horses standing at the count.\u201d<\/p>\n

A smile forms on his face. \u201cAnd you never know, you might see a surprise, you might see Shergar getting dug up again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gerry Hutch talks into a mobile phone that a woman on a flats complex balcony has handed him.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,52,106968,18,13,14,92241,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":["post-492534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-dublin","tag-dublin-central-constituency","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-gerry-hutch","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116601843866847531","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}